By Enyichukwu Enemanna
The Prime Minister of Sao Tome and Principe, Patrice Trovoada on Friday announced that an attempted coup on Thursday night in the Gulf of Guinea island nation was foiled.
Patrice Trovoada said that four men, including the former president of the outgoing National Assembly on Thursday night tried to attack army headquarters.
One of them was a former military officer who attempted a coup in 2009, the prime minister said.
“There was an attempted coup d’état which began around 00.40 and … ended shortly after 6am,” he said, adding: “The armed forces were attacked in a barracks.
In the footage, authenticated and sent to AFP in Libreville by Sao Tome’s justice minister, Trovoada is shown seated at a desk and says he wants to “reassure” the population and “the international community”.
A resident who spoke on condition of anonymity said she had heard “automatic and heavier weapons fire, as well as detonations, for two hours inside the army headquarters” in the capital Sao Tome.
